Buffing the Little Guys 2: I Ran Out of Ideas

Hi there. Last time I did an article where I buffed a lot of different bad creatures. Well today, I'm doing the same thing. I originally wanted to do one with nerfs to creatures (like some raid apexes), but nerfing a lot of creatures bummed me out. Don't worry, there will be more articles like this that aren't big buffs in the future, but for now, here's buffs part 2. Deal with it.

Let's kick things off with possibly the worst creature of all time back then. Archaeotherium did eventually get a bit of a buff, but it went from last place to 3rd from the bottom, so is that really a buff? So what I've done is really cranked up the attack stat. I was going to leave it at that, but it still wasn't as threatening in my opinion. So to stick it to creatures like Coelurosaurvus, I decided to give it on escape heal to really punish creatures from running away, especially after a mutual fury.

Diplocaulus didn't need that much to be honest. It's got good stats and a decent kit. But I decided to differentiate it from Inostrancevia and other cunnings in the rarity by giving it swap in distraction as well as pin immunity to not be shut down by Sarcosuchus. The speed buff helps with Coelurosaurvus while cunning strike is also useful for Sarcosuchus.

Euoplocephalus is my favorite dinosaur. In my first dinosaur book, there was a whole page dedicated to it and it was depicted walking through a forest fire. I thought it was pretty badass. JWA's Euoplocephalus is NOT badass unfortunately. So I decided to fix that. Now with armor buffs and reductions being the new thing, I'm surprised nothing in the common rarity got any sort of change regarding it. So I decided to give this tough Ankylosaur just that. With the new move hunker down, it can easy tank hits from Brontotherium and Glyptodon like they're nothing. However, fierce will still be able to deal with it. Now I also modified the rampage for one specific reason: the mirror matchup. I don't want 2 Euoplocephalus with 80% armor trying to kill each other slowly, so that's why it gained disarming rampage.

Our last common today is one that's just really bad. Phorusrhacous has had the same kit for a long time. If it had deceleration immunity, things might be different. But without it's even worse. There's a very good chance it doesn't get a hit off, and it rarely gets more than one. So I decided to give this terror bird a turn 1 option with raking impact. Now it can do things. And on top of that, it has medium darting counter similarly to how Eremotherium has camouflage and a counter. Now it can actually do things and can live up to its family name.

Kicking off the rares we have the biggest creature to ever walk the earth....that we know of. It's a shame that Argentinosaurus is absolute trash. In fact, all but one of the rare sauropods are, hence why Bajadasaurus was in the last buffing article. This time I wanted to make something new. I remembered that Argentinosaurus was an absolute menace back in the day with a 40% critical hit chance and rampage. I decided to try and bring that back I did take some hp from it, but I made it an offensive sauropod. Now you really need something fierce to stand up to it, because even the bulky resilients like Doedicurus are going to struggle. And you can just kiss flocks goodbye because there's a really good chance flocks like Argenteryx and Compsognathus get 2-shot while others like Rodrigues and Preondactylus will go down in 2. So while Dreadnoughtus is more defensive, Argentinosaurus doesn't hold back.

For the next 4 entries, we'll be taking a look at the original 4 Jurassic World raptor pack. The Atrociraptors are getting all the love with these cool new crazy moves, so I decided to do something similar. I wanted to create raptors that were still raptors that carried a version of pounce, but then add some other features that made them stand out. So kicking off with Charlie, I decided that it would be cool to have another raptor with a shielding move. Now she's got resilient traits that allow it to stand up other cunnings. Also, Charlie is a flock specialist with 2 group moves. And for the occasional faster creature, she's got priority on her basic attack.

Now Delta I wanted to keep as a runner. The issue is that there are so many different types of runners already that I wanted to make something new. Hence, revenge rampage and run. Delta is the ultimate hit and run creature with this move. But if a shield wants to get in her way, she has access to some fierce abilities that allow her to bypass them. And being a runner, pin immunity is justified.

Echo is the most interesting of the bunch. I decided to give her bristling stun to increase her survivability as well as precise pounce. Now she can really do a number to a lot of creatures with this new ability. And by absorbing hits, she can deal more with her counter while getting a bit of a speed boost. And if you try to run, well she has on escape prowl to try and mitigate some of the incoming damage.

Now onto the epics, and we'll be kicking things off with Blue. Blue is the alpha raptor. She never backs down from a fight, whether it be with the Indoraptor, Indominus Rex, Scorpios Rex, or anything that gets in her way. So, she deserves a move like alert showdown. I also reworked some of her kit to give her better defensive tools as well as some hp and deceleration resistance. And I also buffed her damage a bit. And if you try and swap, she also has on escape prowl to deter those swappers. 

Next up is an epic that is a major player in the franchise that I always forget about because it's terrible. Pteranodon is not good. Bad stats with a bad kit and poor moves don't help anyone. I tried to help out it's survivability with some new moves and abilities. Being the antagonist of the skies in the movies, I felt obstruction to flight was a good addition as was robbing wing. I also gave it a fierce component to it's running move to better help against resilients.

Our last epic was brought hp a lot after my last article. I buffed Scaphognathus, but then everyone wanted Scaphotator, so here you go. I beefed up its healing move to be able to heal more and distract. I also removed swoop from it's kit for merciless alert to retain the fierce aspect from Diplotator's kit. It also got some better stats as well as a counter that can help vs creatures like Giganotosaurus that it can't really bleed out. And finally, this epic is also immune to bleed itself because why not.

Now kicking off our legendaries we have Dakotanops. First up, the fact you can pin this ninja is sad, hence the pin resistance. As for the kit, to paraphrase Captain Crunch, "Oops all rampages". Precise revenge allows Dakotanops to deal with flocks. Debilitating rampage helps against creatures like Rexy and Thylaconyx by limiting their devour heals. Revenge cunning rampage can be used for a set up Thylaconyx or Rexy. And sidestep gives it the priority it needs to soak up something like a dominant roar. And to deter creatures like Spinoceratops from swapping in, it gets access to collision.

Next up is an old favorite. Monomimus I feel just needs 2 small little things. First up, it needs sidestep over evasive stance for more consistency. And to be really evil, it gets the infamous darting counter. Now there's no outspeeding this legendary. You can spam your priority moves like there's no tomorrow. Luckily swappers like Alloraptor can still put a lid on its fun.

Speaking of Monolophosaurus hybrids, let's talk Monostegotops. Monostegotops was pushed out when Lystrosuchus came in, and then even further when Spinoceratops showed up. So, I've decided to give it a good amount of love. I gave its old stats back. I also gave it a kit to better handle the fierce and cunning meta it's in right now with debilitating strike and distraction resistance. And for creatures who want to give themselves a bunch of positive effects? Well Monostegotops has a nullifying counter to help deal with that. While this is not going to be dominating any legendary formats, this new Monostegotops is a threat to consider.

Another old legendary that has been forgotten is Pyrritator. This thing for some reason has less hp than both its parents as well as a bland kit. With this rework, its stats are now the best of both worlds with Irritator bulk and Pyroraptor offense. You now can better use pounce as well as an upgraded revenge distracting impact. And to better deal with flocks in a pinch, alert fierce strike is pretty good. And to retain the ferocity from Irritator, Pyrritator gets a solid boost if you swap out, so beware. And also it finally gets resistances.

Finally we have the second weakest of the legendary Spinosaur hybrids. Spinonyx is a bit of a mess, so I'm here to fix that. Now with this kit, it shows Spinoceratops who the boss is. It's also got a defensive swap in as well to tank resilient hits. It does struggle with some fierce, but if you can be bled, watch out. Oh, and look at its class. Guess who fixed that.

Finally, we have 4 uniques that are getting buffed (no apexes today), starting off the Fallen Kingdom's Indoraptor. I reworked the entire kit as there were better options no matter what. Again, for consistency, I added sidestep over evasive stance. I also gave it a better rampage to deal with Dsungascorpios. It also gets a defensive move with cautious impact, allowing it to soak up a hit. And finally I let it keep its cleansing abilities with cleansing shattering strike. I also added damage to its counter as well as some pin resistance to really make Indoraptor feel like a threat.

Next up is Poukandactylus. Like Pteranodon, it gains obstruction to flight while also gaining the defensive stuck landing. I personally felt that was almost enough, so I topped it off with a damage boost.

Smilonemys is next, and like its turtle component it has access to a x3 move with devastate and run. I also gave it better resistances and a better swap move as well. But to top it off, I made it so creatures without stun immunity where threatened whenever this armored cat came in with critical counter stun. So like Pyrorixis, you need stun immunity to really deal with this creature.

Finally, we have Trykosaurus. Seeing as 2 of its moves could get direct upgrades, I decided to go with that. Now those flocks won't be as troublesome. And to combo with the devouring rampage, I decided to give it Ankyntrosaurus's medium resilient counter. I also decided that Trykosaurus has a problem with swappers, so critical obstruction helps out a lot. Finally, seeing as it has the worst set of resistances in the unique rarity, I decided to help it out with vulnerability immunity as well as jumping on the armor change train with armor reduction resistance.

Thank you all for reading. Yes I know it's kind of repetitive, but I have many of my other ideas in the works. So, what was your favorite of these buffs? Let me know and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. ALSO, the Gamepress Tier List voting ends TOMORROW AT RESET!!. Make sure you get everything in for that. Also, dart those legendaries today! I thank you all for reading and see you next time.